5 ms·

What People Don't Get About My Job: From A(rmy Soldier) to Z(ookeeper)

61 points by waxymonkeyfrog 15y ago

reemrevnivek 15y ago
> E is for Engineer > "I wish children could understand how much fun I have." > I am an engineer. Most people are scientifically and mathematically illiterate. Consequently, most people cannot fathom how much pleasure and delight I derive from my work. Of course I am also lucky to have a great job with great coworkers. But the pleasure of analyzing, say, the overall efficiency of a combined heat and power facility is hard to describe. > Well, this is partially true. My wife actually gets irritated that I never mind going to work. She does not feel exactly the same about her job. > I also wish children could understand how much fun I have. Because we need more engineers in this country for sure if we hope to remain globally competitive.
- cwe 15y ago
  E was definitely awesome. Made the article
  - bignoggins 15y ago
    Not surprised E resonates with the HN crowd =)
jinushaun 15y ago
"E is for Engineer I wish children could understand how much fun I have. ... My wife actually gets irritated that I never mind going to work. She does not feel exactly the same about her job." I'm in the same boat. Programming is so much fun that I do it all the time. My girlfriend hates it. "T is for Telecommuter. Working from home means I never leave the office." Story of my life...
Alex3917 15y ago
"Some of the most free-thinking people in the United States are in the US Army." This statement brought to you by the 20+ billion dollars the military spends each year on propaganda and PR.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- MartinCron 15y ago
  I would read it as "the economy is crappy and the US Army is one of the few reliable ways for ambitious free-thinking people to escape from low-opportunity small towns, get work experience, and pay for college" instead of a propaganda and PR thing.
- sspencer 15y ago
  Anecdotal rebuttal: The soldiers I've met and interacted with are among the most varied group of people I can imagine that all do the same basic job. They show more inherent variance than any other profession I've ever seen. I concur completely with the Atlantic's letter, and sincerely doubt it was a PR plant. Just my .02.
  - arethuza 15y ago
    Is it really accurate to describe it as the "same basic job" - there are an awful lot of different roles in any modern force.
  - Alex3917 15y ago
    "I concur completely with the Atlantic's letter, and sincerely doubt it was a PR plant." It might be, but there's no way to tell. But even if it is 'authentic', it's still coming from someone who was likely influenced by the propaganda machine. When someone is willing to spend literally billions of dollars per year to create a one-truth world, the only safe thing is to treat basically everything you hear from/about them as bullshit. Consider the following: "Sometimes we are [portrayed by the media as] plagued by PTSD and associated terrors. [...] The reality is very different." Except according to statistics, roughly 50% of the soldiers coming back from overseas are on disability. And even that is an undercount because the military often denies people medical care for their injuries, lies about how people got hurt, etc.
gallerytungsten 15y ago
My favorite bit so far, in the section on graphic designers: "It's a complicated industry with its own ecology made up of incredibly hard work individuals that is routinely undermined by its own customers." Routinely undermined - so true!
aspir 15y ago
V is for Video Producer "Video is not film. Video is not easy. Video is not fast. Video is slooooooooooow." This is so incredibly true. My day job includes working with our video production unit, and through technology has sped up the process, video is still incredibly hard to do well, and very time consuming. I've been to a few too many code conferences where the video was obviously done by a local volunteer, poorly produced, and, though released for free, is crap. If I can't see the video to read the code, or hear the speaker clearly, it's worthless. Also, if you're negotiating firm that promises a release time of less than 2 weeks, request to see footage from at least 3 previous events. Short turnaround post-production can be done (we had a client request 48 hours once -- it was rough), but make sure they're good. It's easy to sacrifice quality for speed.
powrtoch 15y ago
I wish the Xenobiologist had written more. I went in having never heard the term, and came out with no more information than "this fellow speculates about possible aliens". I'm open to the possibility that this is a legitimate and worthwhile field, but the blurb didn't exactly convince me.
13rules 15y ago
The R is for Referee part is spot on. Have refereed basketball up to and including Men's NCAA Division I. We don't care who wins - simple as that.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
run4yourlives 15y ago
As an infantry vet myself, "Army Soldier" is bang on. There are some tremendously bright and resourceful people in most western armies, and they are light years ahead in terms of adapting to changing environments (or recognizing the need to make a change) than the average civilian. I'm actually really surprised to see such a viewpoint put forward by somebody outside of the military circle.

> E is for Engineer > "I wish children could understand how much fun I have." > I am an engineer. Most people are scientifically and mathematically illiterate. Consequently, most people cannot fathom how much pleasure and delight I derive from my work. Of course I am also lucky to have a great job with great coworkers. But the pleasure of analyzing, say, the overall efficiency of a combined heat and power facility is hard to describe. > Well, this is partially true. My wife actually gets irritated that I never mind going to work. She does not feel exactly the same about her job. > I also wish children could understand how much fun I have. Because we need more engineers in this country for sure if we hope to remain globally competitive.

cwe 15y ago
E was definitely awesome. Made the article
- bignoggins 15y ago
  Not surprised E resonates with the HN crowd =)

jinushaun 15y ago

"E is for Engineer I wish children could understand how much fun I have. ... My wife actually gets irritated that I never mind going to work. She does not feel exactly the same about her job." I'm in the same boat. Programming is so much fun that I do it all the time. My girlfriend hates it. "T is for Telecommuter. Working from home means I never leave the office." Story of my life...

Alex3917 15y ago

"Some of the most free-thinking people in the United States are in the US Army." This statement brought to you by the 20+ billion dollars the military spends each year on propaganda and PR.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
MartinCron 15y ago
I would read it as "the economy is crappy and the US Army is one of the few reliable ways for ambitious free-thinking people to escape from low-opportunity small towns, get work experience, and pay for college" instead of a propaganda and PR thing.
sspencer 15y ago
Anecdotal rebuttal: The soldiers I've met and interacted with are among the most varied group of people I can imagine that all do the same basic job. They show more inherent variance than any other profession I've ever seen. I concur completely with the Atlantic's letter, and sincerely doubt it was a PR plant. Just my .02.
- arethuza 15y ago
  Is it really accurate to describe it as the "same basic job" - there are an awful lot of different roles in any modern force.
- Alex3917 15y ago
  "I concur completely with the Atlantic's letter, and sincerely doubt it was a PR plant." It might be, but there's no way to tell. But even if it is 'authentic', it's still coming from someone who was likely influenced by the propaganda machine. When someone is willing to spend literally billions of dollars per year to create a one-truth world, the only safe thing is to treat basically everything you hear from/about them as bullshit. Consider the following: "Sometimes we are [portrayed by the media as] plagued by PTSD and associated terrors. [...] The reality is very different." Except according to statistics, roughly 50% of the soldiers coming back from overseas are on disability. And even that is an undercount because the military often denies people medical care for their injuries, lies about how people got hurt, etc.

gallerytungsten 15y ago

My favorite bit so far, in the section on graphic designers: "It's a complicated industry with its own ecology made up of incredibly hard work individuals that is routinely undermined by its own customers." Routinely undermined - so true!

aspir 15y ago

V is for Video Producer "Video is not film. Video is not easy. Video is not fast. Video is slooooooooooow." This is so incredibly true. My day job includes working with our video production unit, and through technology has sped up the process, video is still incredibly hard to do well, and very time consuming. I've been to a few too many code conferences where the video was obviously done by a local volunteer, poorly produced, and, though released for free, is crap. If I can't see the video to read the code, or hear the speaker clearly, it's worthless. Also, if you're negotiating firm that promises a release time of less than 2 weeks, request to see footage from at least 3 previous events. Short turnaround post-production can be done (we had a client request 48 hours once -- it was rough), but make sure they're good. It's easy to sacrifice quality for speed.

powrtoch 15y ago

I wish the Xenobiologist had written more. I went in having never heard the term, and came out with no more information than "this fellow speculates about possible aliens". I'm open to the possibility that this is a legitimate and worthwhile field, but the blurb didn't exactly convince me.

13rules 15y ago

The R is for Referee part is spot on. Have refereed basketball up to and including Men's NCAA Division I. We don't care who wins - simple as that.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

run4yourlives 15y ago

As an infantry vet myself, "Army Soldier" is bang on. There are some tremendously bright and resourceful people in most western armies, and they are light years ahead in terms of adapting to changing environments (or recognizing the need to make a change) than the average civilian. I'm actually really surprised to see such a viewpoint put forward by somebody outside of the military circle.